Summerlander wrote:I have a suggestion for people who want answers to certain questions but don't trust or resonate with the opinions and explanations of others. Have a lucid dream and ask a dream character any question you want. Ask the dream itself, even, to show you something that will bring you to a great realisation. See what you get.

Perhaps you will be shown a perspective that you wouldn't normally consider and be surprised. Don't be alarmed or mystified with what you get though. We are the universe and those answers may not be as inaccessible as one might think. Search the depths of your unconscious mind, reach within, find the source of what you have become and you might just realise that you are at one with everything.

Yes, if the theory that we are stardust is true, we are connected with everything. Stars, I'm sure, were formed from other explosions of other stars, or w/e. And in turn, created our galaxy, or w/e. I don't feel much like a star, though. I mean, I'm hot, but not that hot

Reality is the sight, where reflection is the truth. Water is the glass, where deception is the stone.Reality is the cage, where limit is the lock. Mind is the key, where only the blind can see.

Well, you and everything you see around you really is stardust, formed from the same cloud of gas that created the sun and the planets in our solar system. The sun is practically made of the same stuff, atoms and their electrons. But the sun just has a different arrangement to yours. Atoms are excited enough that the electrons jump orbits and photons are released. As a star it contains a raging battle between nuclear fusion and gravity. It is a big ball of burning gas which radiates heat and light.

Quantum theory also supports the interconnectedness of all things in the universe. We are part of the whole system, we are it - the universe looking at itself - there is no denying this. It's very evident.

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

Well, you and everything you see around you really is stardust, formed from the same cloud of gas that created the sun and the planets in our solar system. The sun is practically made of the same stuff, atoms and their electrons. But the sun just has a different arrangement to yours. Atoms are excited enough that the electrons jump orbits and photons are released. As a star it contains a raging battle between nuclear fusion and gravity. It is a big ball of burning gas which radiates heat and light.

Quantum theory also supports the interconnectedness of all things in the universe. We are part of the whole system, we are it - the universe looking at itself - there is no denying this. It's very evident.

Well, no offense, but I'm sure there are very convincing people that would say otherwise. I mean, personally, it sounds plausible, but by now you should know I don't believe anything. Quantum theory may support green pigs, but it's still just a theory.

Reality is the sight, where reflection is the truth. Water is the glass, where deception is the stone.Reality is the cage, where limit is the lock. Mind is the key, where only the blind can see.

The best one we have though, that works well, has predicted the outcome of many experiments and from which the most revolutionary inventions such as that of the transistor derives.

By the way, this is Carina Nebula where many solar systems are forming along with the birth of new stars. Ooo...look at all that stardust...

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

Guys, this has just come to my attention and it is relevant to this topic:http://richarddawkins.net/articles/645578-update-sanal-edamaruku-under-attack-for-exposing-catholic-miracle

"Empty cognizance of one taste, suffused with knowing, is your unmistaken nature, the uncontrived original state. when not altering what is, allow it to be as it is, and the awakened state is right now spontaneously present."

well conserning the stardust thing , yeah i know its one of those things we might never know for sure but there's evidence that shows that heavy metals are formed in the reaction prosses of stars about our temperature. so thats how our Earth's core formed

I watched a show today where a lion pride was watching another lion pride eat a buffalo. Soon the male lions who had the buffalo were chasing the offending lion pride. When one of the males caught the offending male, he mutilated his genitals. When the other male caught the female lion he "asserted" his dominance. Where am I going with this. Well in the same show all the lions in the pride were showing affection maybe you could call it "love". Now my point. These animals react to circumstances much like humans. They kill for food, fight for territory, and show affection for family bonds. These are all evident within our day to day lives. However, humans are able to contemplate the past and ponder the future. It is this ability that separates us and gives us our soul. Our body is a vessel of learning for this soul. Our environment is what it is to provide this learning. We are here to argue, agree and love, hate. There will always be people who mishandle religion, but somewhere else there are a greater amount of people who foster and promote it's growth. There will always be people who don't believe and that will always help people who do believe reaffirm what they know. The world will never be perfect we are animals as well as souls. So thank you for your posts they are entertaining and at sometimes enlightening, but remember to ask yourself "if we aren't here for a reason, then why continue to be here?" Keep living, keep asking, and keep loving. Know that we all mess up and that is what will help us get to be better. Keep looking out, but don't forget to look in. For truly the last mysteries are within, no matter how small, big, far, or close science goes. Ohh and if you made it to the end of this i have a question "has anyone ever read about the aborigines and their belief that reality is a dream and our dreams are actual reality? I always thought that was interesting. Kinda makes me correlate the souls existence and the different spheres of learning that it travels through. Would we actually wake up in the same existence we fell asleep in if this were true?

rdc8214 wrote:These animals react to circumstances much like humans. They kill for food, fight for territory, and show affection for family bonds. These are all evident within our day to day lives. However, humans are able to contemplate the past and ponder the future. It is this ability that separates us and gives us our soul. Our body is a vessel of learning for this soul. Our environment is what it is to provide this learning. We are here to argue, agree and love, hate. There will always be people who mishandle religion, but somewhere else there are a greater amount of people who foster and promote it's growth. There will always be people who don't believe and that will always help people who do believe reaffirm what they know. The world will never be perfect we are animals as well as souls.

Think of it this way. If lions had houses, meat packing plants, and everything humans do, they'd probably act the same. I think the reason some believe animals don't contemplate the future, is because they do things humans don't need to do anymore. Like hunt for example. If a lion sees a meal, he won't have a need to think: "Hmm, should I eat this delicious buffalo, or go on being hungry". He'll just go and eat. But that lion wouldn't do the same if there were 10 buffalo, he'd be outnumbered. I saw this on a program. The lion attacked a baby buffalo, the baby buffalo was able to get back to his herd and the whole herd stampeded toward the lion, now cowering away. The lion actually did contemplate. He played out the scenario in his head. And he probably won't be attacking a baby buffalo that strayed a little outside his herd.

As for pondering the future, it's unknown whether they do this or not. We can't know what an animal's belief system is. Perhaps their only goal is to survive, and so is human's if you think about it. We simply go about it in a more convenient and easier way. We're hungry, we go to the store. Wild animals, however, need to hunt their own food. (Well, I can't speak for all humans. There are tribes that still survive the old fashioned way. Actually running after their meal until it tires out. Amazing.)

I think the contemplation, and pondering is really not how it seems. If you think about it, what we contemplate, is really just thoughts about how to get what we want in the now. Animals do this, just in a simpler/faster way. Animals may question their existence. Who's to say they don't? We can't understand them any better then they can understand us. I like to think every living thing has a soul.

So thank you for your posts they are entertaining and at sometimes enlightening, but remember to ask yourself "if we aren't here for a reason, then why continue to be here?" Keep living, keep asking, and keep loving. Know that we all mess up and that is what will help us get to be better. Keep looking out, but don't forget to look in. For truly the last mysteries are within, no matter how small, big, far, or close science goes.

I agree completely. That's all that can be asked of us.

Ohh and if you made it to the end of this i have a question "has anyone ever read about the aborigines and their belief that reality is a dream and our dreams are actual reality? I always thought that was interesting. Kinda makes me correlate the souls existence and the different spheres of learning that it travels through. Would we actually wake up in the same existence we fell asleep in if this were true?

Haha, look at my signature! I mean, I definitely think it's a possibility. Of course, I'm thinking more along the lines that our entire existence is a dream, and the dreams that we have at night are dreams inside of dreams. But these Aborigines think more like, when we have dreams at night, we are actually waking up, right. It's an interesting concept, and I think it's fully possible.

Reality is the sight, where reflection is the truth. Water is the glass, where deception is the stone.Reality is the cage, where limit is the lock. Mind is the key, where only the blind can see.